The present invention relates to a disc player, in particular to a disc player having an improved cartridge loading system for loading a cartridge containing a disc-shaped recording medium.
There are many types of cartridge loading system for use in a disc player, with one of the most representative examples illustrated in FIG. 11A. Referring to FIG. 11A, the known loading system comprises a cartridge B for housing a disc-shaped recording medium, a cartridge transporting means D for transporting the cartridge B to a predetermined position in a cartridge holder C located within a disc player A, a lift means F for moving down the cartridge holder C and clamping the same onto a servo mechanism E for recording information into or reproducing information from the disc-shaped recording medium.
FIG. 11B shows another example of a cartridge loading system which comprises a cartridge B for housing a disc-shaped recording medium, a cartridge transporting means D for moving the cartridge B to a predetermined position in a cartridge holder C located within a disc player Axe2x80x2, a pivoting means H for pivoting a servo mechanism Exe2x80x2 about a pivoting axis G arranged perpendicular to and below the transporting direction of the cartridge B. The pivoting means H is adapted to clamp the cartridge holder C to the servo mechanism Exe2x80x2 for recording information into or reproducing information from the disc-shaped recording medium.
However, with the disc player A shown in FIG. 11A, since the lift means F has to be made relatively large in size in order to smoothly move up and down the cartridge holder C, and since many other mechanical components have to be employed for driving the loading system in a predetermined manner, it is usually difficult to manufacture a disc player with a low cost.
On the other hand, with the disc player A shown in FIG. 11B, since it is needed to have an additional driving mechanism which also has to be made large in size for smoothly driving the cartridge transporting means D and the pivoting means H, and since many other mechanical components have to be employed for driving the loading system in a predetermined manner, a total cost for manufacturing a disc player is still very high.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved cartridge loading system for use in a disc player, which has been simplified in its structure with the use of reduced mechanical components, so as to produce an improved disc player compact in size, thereby solving the above-mentioned problems peculiar to the above-mentioned prior arts.
According to the present invention, there is provided an improved disk player having a structure capable of mounting on a turntable a disc-shaped recording medium contained within a cartridge. Such improved disc player comprises a cartridge transporting system capable of transporting the cartridge in a direction generally parallel to a sliding direction of a shutter of the cartridge; and a pivotable chassis on which the turntable is mounted, said chassis being pivotable by a chassis driving system so as to enable said disc-shaped recording medium to be mounted on the turntable, with its pivoting axis being generally parallel to a transporting direction for transporting the cartridge.
In one aspect of the present invention, the cartridge transporting system and the pivotable chassis are all driven with the use of a single driving source.
In another aspect of the present invention, the cartridge transporting system has a carrier capable of engaging with the cartridge and transporting the cartridge in a predetermined manner, the chassis driving system has a driving plate capable of engaging with the pivotable chassis so as to enable the pivotable chassis to pivot in a predetermined manner within the cartridge holder, the carrier and the driving plate are all engageable with a single gear driven by the above single driving source.
In a further aspect of the present invention, the pivoting axis is provided on one side of the cartridge holder, and an engagement between the driving plate and the pivotable chassis is located on the other side of the cartridge holder.
In a still further aspect of the present invention, an engaging pin is integrally formed on one side of the pivotable chassis, said engaging pin is movably engageable in an inclined groove formed on the driving plate so as to slidably move in a direction generally perpendicular to a pivoting direction of the pivotable chassis, thereby enabling the pivotable chassis to pivot within the cartridge holder in a predetermined manner.
The above objects and features of the present invention will become better understood from the following description with reference to the accompanying drawings.